In 2236, the SS Columbia, a scientific survey ship from Earth, crashed on the planet. The sole survivor was a human woman named Vina. She was retrieved by the Talosians and her injuries attended to, although the Talosians' lack of knowledge of human anatomy hindered their efforts.

Sometime prior to the year 2380, the classified nature of the Talosian species and the death penalty for visiting Talos IV were lifted by Starfleet. By this time, Starfleet had apparently developed scanning instruments that could detect the difference between reality and Talosian illusions. (TNGnovel: Q & A)